A passementerie curtain tieback with a single large tassel, from a French château group. The head is a turned mould dressed in vertical braids of olive and rust over a pale ground, cinched at the neck with a narrow gilt-metallic band, and finished below with a deep ruff of moss-green cut velvet. Beneath the ruff the skirt falls in chartreuse and olive floss, overlaid with a dense hanging mass of small terracotta drop tassels, each individually bound and knotted onto its own cord in staggered tiers. The suspension cord is a heavy two-tone twist of olive and rust.
The colouring is the pull of the piece: acid-green and burnt terracotta together, the greens gone soft and the terracotta gone dusty, in a combination that reads as neither decorative-shop reproduction nor anything currently made.
Sourcing: acquired as part of the same French château group as the other passementerie in this collection, and attributed to the nineteenth century.
MEASUREMENTS
Tassel: 10 in / 25.4 cm
Cord: approximately 60 in / 152.4 cm
Sold as a single tieback
CONDITION
Sold as found, with a repair. The suspension cord detached at a point above the tassel and has been rejoined with a wrapping of blue-grey thread that does not match the original colours; loose fibre is present on both sides of the join and an ornamental element appears to be missing at that point. The repair is old, visible, and shown close-up in the photographs.
Beyond the repair the tassel is intact and full: the head is firm, the braiding is sound, the velvet ruff is dense, and the skirt and its drop tassels are mostly complete with little losses . Colours have softened throughout with age, and there is general dust with scattered loose threads through the floss.
Photographed as received and sold as found. Please review all images, particularly the repair, which form part of the condition description.
A passementerie curtain tieback with a single large tassel, from a French château group. The head is a turned mould dressed in vertical braids of olive and rust over a pale ground, cinched at the neck with a narrow gilt-metallic band, and finished below with a deep ruff of moss-green cut velvet. Beneath the ruff the skirt falls in chartreuse and olive floss, overlaid with a dense hanging mass of small terracotta drop tassels, each individually bound and knotted onto its own cord in staggered tiers. The suspension cord is a heavy two-tone twist of olive and rust.
The colouring is the pull of the piece: acid-green and burnt terracotta together, the greens gone soft and the terracotta gone dusty, in a combination that reads as neither decorative-shop reproduction nor anything currently made.
Sourcing: acquired as part of the same French château group as the other passementerie in this collection, and attributed to the nineteenth century.
MEASUREMENTS
Tassel: 10 in / 25.4 cm
Cord: approximately 60 in / 152.4 cm
Sold as a single tieback
CONDITION
Sold as found, with a repair. The suspension cord detached at a point above the tassel and has been rejoined with a wrapping of blue-grey thread that does not match the original colours; loose fibre is present on both sides of the join and an ornamental element appears to be missing at that point. The repair is old, visible, and shown close-up in the photographs.
Beyond the repair the tassel is intact and full: the head is firm, the braiding is sound, the velvet ruff is dense, and the skirt and its drop tassels are mostly complete with little losses . Colours have softened throughout with age, and there is general dust with scattered loose threads through the floss.
Photographed as received and sold as found. Please review all images, particularly the repair, which form part of the condition description.
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